Ten Statements About....CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER (2014)

"Yeah, I've been thinking...this is a crap costume, Nick."

“I won’t fight you.  I’m your friend.”
“You’re my mission."

1) As with all successful Marvel movies, this film strives to give us a different feel from its peer.  In this case, it’s a Tom Clancy-style political thriller complete with a fetishism of hardware and lots of double blinds and backstabbing.

2) I don’t care what Joe Quesada says; we need Scarlet Johansson’s Black Widow to be featured in her own film.  Hell, we need Black Widow to show up in every Marvel movie from now on (yes, even Guardians of The Galaxy).  One has only to see Johansson in the first act, and her easy chemistry with Chris Evans, to know that This Is True.

3) I love how this film has a different feel from the first Cap film, yet it manages to tie into the first film very, very strongly.  Hell, the plot (beyond the obvious connection) is seeped in the plot of the first, actively evoking one of the villains of that original film in a version that made my comic reader heart beat a little faster.

Yep...I'd let her shoot me....

4) BATROC!  BATROC THE M’FIN’ LEAPER!  And not only does he give Cap a tough, exciting fight at the top of the first act, not only does he make it clear that savate is a martial art Not To Be Fucked With, he is wearing a version of the purple and orange outfit he wears in the comic.  As someone who isn’t ashamed to admit that Batroc is my favorite Cap baddie bar none, this made me geek out.

5) Boy, does Anthony Mackie make The Falcon come off as a bad ass.  In keeping with the Tom Clancy feel of this film, Mackie’s Sam Wilson has a much more militaristic origin and justification for his wings.  But Mackie breathes life into the character, selling the action and fighting sequence with gusto and energy.  And one of the best action sequences involves him and a slew of Helicarrier guns.

6) I find it clever that the film cast Robert Redford, who appeared in his share of political movies--Hell, he was the candidate in The Candidate--as Pierce.  This is an example of stunt casting that works, as the resonance of many of Redford’s previous roles gives more authority to him in this role.

Forget The Winter Soldier...Viva Batroc!

7) While I did like some of the incidental world building (the name drop of Dr. Strange was particularly surprising), I was somewhat disappointed by the use and ultimate fate of Maximiliano Hernandez’ Jasper Sitwell.  Part of that may be because I’ve always contended that Agent Coulson should have been Sitwell, but most of it is because of the character’s legacy in the comics and his build up throughout the movieverse makes his use here seem like a waste.  I wonder if it would have been better to establish another, original character over the course of a few movies or use someone like Victoria Hand, who at least has a rep for being a little more mutable in her alliances.

8) Even though she doesn’t look like Hayley Atwill (but then, maybe Marvel Studios wanted to distance themselves from the whole ‘dating your WWII girlfriend’s descendant thing that adds to the overall creepiness when it comes to Silver Age Marvel Relationship Politics), Emily Van Camp does make a decent Agent 13 on the surface...if they gave her more to do other than pretend to be a nurse and get all contrary with authority figures.  Van Camp gets so little that I wondered why they didn’t just take advantage of the Evans/Johansson chemistry and make Natasha into his romantic interest.

Why?  Because extra Scarjo makes things better...

On second thought, given the awkward way she handles her one action scene, maybe the smallness of her role is a good thing.

9)  While I liked how Evans’ portrayal of Cap is consistent with my view of Steve Rogers as ‘The Last Stand Up Guy’ (the scenes of him visiting an aged Peggy and interacting with The Winter Soldier once he learns who he is drives this home), I have some problems with the way he tacitly approves of the behavior of other people around him.  There’s one scene where he seems to gleefully approve of something very violent that Natasha does--an act he seems to have counted on her doing--that made me real uncomfortable.  I know some people will wave this off as Cap being a soldier, but I don’t think that his being a soldier should supercede what has been established about him up to this point.

10) Look, I know that on one level I went ‘duh,’ when I saw that final title card--but damn if it still doesn’t get me all psyched in the same way all those ‘James Bond Will Return In...’ title cards did when I was a youth.

Overall...an excellent follow-up to an excellent orginal, better in keeping the through line of the character vital than Thor: The Dark World.

I returned to The Regal Atlas Park, and managed to almost totally avoid the Regal First Look.  I was tha assailed with ten trailers if you count the half-assed ‘behind the scenes preview’ of A Haunted House 2.  Amongst the trailers, there was Godzilla (which looks like they’re going to get it right this time), Lucy (in which someone makes an argument for Scarlett Johansson being more than able to carry a Black Widow movie) and, of course, Guardians of The Galaxy (which actually looks pretty good, considering my lukewarm reaction to James Gunn’s previous films).

Ten Statements About....THE AVENGERS (2012)

"You gotta strut, pout, put it out/that's what you want from..."

"The Avengers. It's what we call ourselves, sort of like a team. 'Earth's Mighiest Heroes' type thing."
"Yes, I've met them."
"Yeah, takes us a while to get any traction, I'll give you that one. But let's do a head count here: your brother the demi-god; a super soldier, a living legend who kind of lives up to the legend; a man with breath-taking anger management issues; a couple of master assassins, and YOU, big fella, you've managed to piss off every single one of them."

1) I owe Joss Whedon an apology, as in this film he manages to prove he is able to do big-ass on-screen action and super-heroics...and manages to find new and engaging ways to do said big-ass on-screen action (although there is a moment which makes me wonder if he was aware of the criticism some people leveled at him, myself included, and decided to spoof it).

2) Mark Ruffalo's take on Bruce Banner is rather interesting. There's a strange sense of humor running under his take, a kind of bemused sarcasm that plays off of Robert Downey Jr.'s Tony Stark really well. And while I still don't buy the reasoning Banner gives for controlling his Hulk-Outs in the third act, I can see how Ruffalo made those choices to bolster that contention.

3) At first, I really thought Clark Gregg's beloved Agent Coulson was acting out of character when he went all fanboy in the presence of Chris Evans' Captain America...but then I realized that what Whedon was doing was showing how Coulson's admiration for Cap is what spurred him on to become the super-cool secret agent we've grown to like in the previous four films, that Cap's selflessness became a template for Coulson's sense of duty and honor, and spurs on his actions later in the film.

4) One of the things I really, really appreciated was how we had our heroes actively using their powers to save people at time rather than just beating things up. Iron Man trying to jumpstart the helicarrier, Cap making the save in the bank....these moments gave us a sense of these characters being heroes and not just gaily-dressed guys beating up armored lizard guys.

"Goodness...is that...our profits?"

5) So first Scarlett Johanssen, now Cobie Smolders...is it the agenda of these movies to get every woman I think is hot squeezed into a formfitting SHIELD uniform? Can I look forward to Kristen Bell playing Daisy Johnson? Maybe McPhee as Victoria Head?

6) I was also appreciative that the only real member of the Joss Whedon Day Players was Alex Denisoff's Other (unless you count Chris Hemmworth, who got Thor thanks to Cabin In The Woods)--and he was buried under make-up. But then, this is perhaps the least Whedon-feeling of Whedon's productions, even though there are large elements that are Whedon-esque.

7) While Tom Hiddleston's Loki acts a great deal more like an actual super-villain, he's still excellent in the role. He successfully gives us a proper face to the Big Shouty Alien Bug Invasion, and both puts forth his agenda ('It's easier to give up freedom, isn't it?') with a degree of rational thought and revels in his mischief.

"So you really think I'll be sticking around as Banner?"

8) While I recognize that the 'meet-and-fight' sequence that pulls the curtain down on Act One is there to give us a legitimate action beat while also giving fanboys a bit of a thrill...I wonder if it was actually necessary. It's not like Fury wouldn't have briefed everyone on each other, or that they'd be aware of each other's abilities. Yeah, it's a satisfying dust-up, but it could easily, easily have been sidestepped with a few lines of dialogue...

No, wait...this isn't supposed to be a Brian Michael Bendis comic.

Wow....that's....ummm, kinda tight, innit,
Cobie?"

9) I also recognize that someone had to get the short end of the stick, and I'm not surprised that it's mostly Those New Kids--Jeremy Renner's Hawkeye (who comes off as pretty much a cipher) and Smolder's Maria Hill. However, I am impressed that the script gives us a sense of both characters in the main action that we don't feel too left out. Hell, in the case of Hawkeye, what we learn made me actively interested in seeing this talked-about Hawkeye and Black Widow movie if said movie was a prequel that revealed the story they referenced a couple of time.

10) That last act could have been a massive mess of shaky-cam confusion...but I love how Whedon came up with lots of innovative action set pieces (the way Cap and Iron Man worked together utilizing the shield to focus and direct the repulsor blasts) and moments of genuine characterization that kept the film's momentum engaging. It's absolutely fitting that the last moment in the film includes a testimony from a seeming bystander making reference to Cap saving her during that last act.

Overall...about as great as a super-hero movie could be while still being unapologetically a super hero movie, this is the greatest movie little twelve year old Tom could have imagined when he was reading those old Shooter/Perez issues....and is a great two hours and change for adult Tom to experience. Here's hoping the next one is half as fun.

Ten Statements About....FANTASTIC FOUR (2005)

"Okay...I'll do this...but only if I'm in a much better movie six
years from now..."

"You need to control yourself. Think before you act."

"Yeah, but see, that's your problem, Reed. You always think, you never act. What if we got these powers for a reason. What if it's for some higher purpose."

1) Here's a bit of heresy--I actually think that by putting Victor Von Doom in space with Richards and company, the script streamlines itself very well, doing away with the need for a second, separate origin story.

2) You know, I could buy the whole family angle a lot easier if a) the older sister didn't look younger than her kid brother and b) she wasn't, you know, obviously of Latino origin as opposed to her all-American looking brother...but then....

3) One of the biggest miscasts in this film--and miscasting is a key flaw in this movie as a whole--is entrusting the one of the central character (for the Reed/Sue/Doom triangle is the engine that drives the script) to an actress who's not only incapable of handling weighty emotional acting, but doesn't even seem to want to be bothered to act in this silly comic book movie. Yeah, you look cute in your skin-tight scuba suit, Ms. Alba...but no thanks.

4) On the other hand, Evans and Chiklis are magnificent in their roles. These two definitely have that grumpy, argumentative-but-affectionate chemistry Johnny and Ben have, and both have these little physical moments that make you believe they're fully invested in the film as a whole.

"Look, I don't care...they cast me because I'm the Flavor
of The Week, and you're stuck with me.  DEAL WITH IT!"

5) You know, not only is the whole 'Corporate Takeover of The Bad Guy's Company To Give Him Motivation' waaaay to similar to what Norman Osborne goes through in Spider-Man, I'd swear they use the same building for Victor's HQ that they used for Norman's townhouse.

6) Movie, I can buy the accident turning Victor Von Doom into some sort of ferro-organic being. I could even accept if, let's say, he used his genius to create an electromagnetic bolt thrower or something, and an exoskeleton to make him super-strong...but giving Doom electromagnetic powers and superstrength....that's a deal breaker. Doesn't help that you cast Julian MacMahon--a competent actor, but not competent enough to make this underwritten part work.

7) If you took all the coincidences and montages out of this film's second and third act...well, you wouldn't have a second or third act.

8) Okay, CGI...you can do effective 'flame guy' and 'invisible gal' tricks...how about we do something about how fake your 'stretchy guy' tricks are, because...well, Reed looks like a chew toy.

"If only this mask didn't make me look like I was perpetually
asking for cheese..."

9) While I acknowledge that jealousy plays a major part in the Doom/Richards dynamics in the comics, reducing Doom's motivation solely to jealousy in this film makes him come off as...well, small and petty...which I guess plays right into the whole 'Glorified TV Pilot' feel this movie just never can escape.

10) As much as I think MacMahon didn't have the skill set to handle Doom, making him come off as a glorified frat boy, I give him credit for the way he handles the use of his powers. The way he chooses to shoot his bolts from below the waist...it's the only time Doom feels like the royalty he's supposed to be.

Overall...as much as I didn't care for this film when I first saw it in the theaters, it really hasn't dated well. It never gives us the feeling that it deserves to be a movie, ending up nothing more than a TV Pilot with grander ambitions.

Ten Statements--No, Wait, Eleven!--About....CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE FIRST AVENGER (2011)

"I think I will show this to Dr. Rubik..."

"General Patton has said that wars are fought with weapons but are won by men. Our goal is to create the greatest army in history. But every army begins with one man. He will be the first in a new breed of super-soldier. We are going to win this war because we have the best men. And they, personally, will escort Adolf Hitler to the gates of Hell."

1) Wow...just...wow....

What? You want more? Okay...

2) Once again--the strength of Marvel's movie projects is proven to be finding the right person for the job, giving them a general idea and getting the hell out of their way. Joe Johnston, who proved he knew his WWII period adventures with The Rocketeer, is allowed to just go crazy and create a balls out action epic with a strong character core...

3) ...and that core could not have worked without Chris Evans--who once again proves he's a better actor than people think he is by taking a low-key approach to playing both Steve and Captain America. What's more important, he stays low-key, so that we get a sense that Steve Rogers is still Steve at his core, even when he's slinging that shield around and kicking Nazis in the chops.

"Seriously...you guys...I know you're making faces behind
my back...."

4) Another small but significant thing about Johnston's work--he doesn't shirk from the fact that this is a war movie, and as such, is unapologetic about the fact that Cap does kill.

5) By turning Bucky into a peer of Steve as opposed to a teen, it both sidesteps the idea that Cap dragged a kid into war zones, and opens the door for a Winter Soldier down the line. Similarly, I love how they simply folded Cap into the Howling Commandos, thus sidestepped the whole Chaykin caused mess of Nick Fury living into his old age intact.

6) You know...I wonder if somebody could take Hayley Atwill and somehow digitally replace the mannequin who played Emma Frost in X-Men First Class...because that girl knows how to work an accent.

7) Much like Spider-Man 2, the script by Christopher Markus and Stephen Feeley does something comics didn't back in the day--it gives us a better sense of Dr. Erkstine and gives him a fatherly relationship with Steve. And given the chemistry between Evans and Stanley Tucci, that relationship works even better.

8) Another great bit of chemistry is the one between Hugo Weaving and Toby Jones as Armin Zola. I just wish Jones didn't disappear at the end of Act Two, and that we somehow got a glimpse of him in a simile of his grotesque TV Head form.

"Why yes...yes, you may touch my manly chest."

9) I'm impressed with the fact that so many of the stunts seem to be practically pulled off...or are some combination of practical and CGI that strengthens both elements...and since Johnston is one of those guys who believes you need to see fights as if, you know, you're seeing a fight, there's very little of that stupid shakey-cam.

10) Man...can we add Neal MacDonough to the list of Actors Who Were Born To Play Their Marvel Characters? His Dum Dum Dugan is just uncanny.

11) Yes...yes, I marked out when I saw The Human Torch...why'd you ask?

Overall...this may very well be my favorite super-hero movie of this year, a pure action film with a lot going for it. Hell, this is right up there with the first Iron Man in my rankings....a fitting capper to the whole Avengers plan...

I went to Kips Bay today, and not counting the trailer for The Avengers that ran as the after-credits scene, there were seven trailers including the first one for The Amazing Spider-Man that pretty much left me with no opinion, the same boring one for the Tiny Bourne-espqe Abduction, an equally bland one for Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol which has ceased to convince me to see it even with added Simon Pegg, and the one that did work for me--namely, the one for The Adventures of Tintin, that peaked me interest even before it revealed that Stephen Moffat wrote it. I also had to suffer through part of the FirstLook, including an awful promo for the ABC series Once Upon A Time, which doesn't even bother to hide the fact that it's stolen whole from Fables, and the 'unlike anything you've seen before (unless you watch Mad Men) period series Pan Am...which at least has Christina Ricci in a tight stewardess uniform.

Ten Statements About....THE LOSERS (2010)

Nope...nothing subtle about this photo...nothing a'tall...

1) This film rises and falls on the chemistry of its leads....and luckily, that chemistry is there from the first frame. Because we believe these five people have a history, we can go along with all the wild insanity that follows them throughout this movie.

2) I liked the fact that the film never shied away from acknowledging its comic book roots, from the Jock-drawn introductory cards to the place titles done in the style of the comic's logo.

3) It took a while, but Jeffrey Dean Morgan has managed to find his place in the world. His raw-but-smooth voice, his body language and the way he handles firearms makes him this generation's 'quiet cool' action star along the lines of Clint Eastwood.

4) The script, by Peter Berg and James Vanderbilt, understands a fundamental rule of action filmmaking--keep it moving, keep it fast. And, refreshingly, the film also understand what far too many filmmakers these days don't...namely, that not every movie needs to be two hours or more. Some, like this one, are perfectly fine at a little over ninety minutes.

5) Another clever thing about the script--Berg and Vanderbilt cleverly seed the film with a few outlandish element like the 'snuke' that pretty much clue the audience into the fact that this is Not A Realistic Film...thus allowing director Sylvain White to go a little overboard with the stylized action. And speaking of overboard...

6)...one of the two weaknesses lie in Jason Patric's villian, Max. He certainly digs into the role with both hands, but oversteps the generous boundaries set up by Berg and Vanderbilt. It doesn't help that Max seems to have invaded the world of The Losers from the land of Mark Millar, with the way he casually kills, or orders killed, people for the simplest of reasons, makes racist comments and primps like a cartoon transvestite.

7) A little better is Holt McCallany as Wade, Max's henchman, who has a similar 'quiet cool' feel about him, and has a wry delivery that is highly reminiscent of Clancy Brown.

Cougar, he may not know much English..but he knows he's coo'.

8) Chris Evans should have Ryan Reynolds' career, if not his wife. The man does everything that ass-hat does in terms of comic timing and handling action moments, only he does it better. His give and take with both Columbus Short's Pooch and Oscar Jaenada's Cougar goes a long way to cementing the sense that the leads have a history prior to the film. Anyone worried about him being Captain America needs to shut up.

(Hell, on second thought, give Evans Reynolds' wife. That asshat doesn't deserve coming home to Scarlett Johanssen every night.)

"Alright, Reynolds...hand her over..."

9) The other big weakness is how the film very, very self-consciously presumes there's going to be a sequel. Yes, there's a final confrontation between Morgan's Clay and Patric's Max, but it ends up being too short, and no amount of humorous codas featuring Patric getting mugged on a public bus can help disguise that.

10) I still don't get why everyone is going nuts over Zoe Saldana, who seems to have that Ally-Sheedy-like tendency to let her smirk do all her acting, but she does show up in a number of revealing outfits, including a black corset-and-panties number she engages in a firefight in. I'm sore a lot of people would argue that there's nothing at all wrong with that; I'm just not one of them. I fear she is going to go the way of all these 'It Girls' who disappear after two or three years of intense stardom.

In short--it's a big, dumb, action movie with very little touch in touch with reality. But the cast of known-but-not-very-known stars manages to hold it all together by sheer dint of chemistry.

Incidentally, there was a strange frission going on in the trailers, as we were treated to The A-Team (There are shorts where Liam Neeson looks positively eireely like George Peppard), The Takers and The Expendables....all films about outlaw mercenaries trying to pull off impossible missions, all but The Takers to clear their names. It only emphasized how in marchstep some of these studios are creatively. But at least they're better than Lottery Ticket or...shudder....Step Up 3-D. Who is actually watching movies like this? Who'd be willing to watch movies like this in 3-D?

Oh, and this is the first time I had to pay nine dollars for a matinee show. Thank God the film was worth it.